Expecting: A Novel

( 2 )

Overview

Sheila Martin has always known how to take care of herself and what she wants out of life. But with a hyper-religious, controlling mother and a browbeaten, emotionally distant father, Sheila’s desire to become an international pop star (just like Lady Gaga) is the exact opposite of what her parents want for her. One night, Sheila lies to her parents so she can go to a party where something terrible happens to her with consequences that will change her life—and theirs—forever.
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More About This Book

Overview

Sheila Martin has always known how to take care of herself and what she wants out of life. But with a hyper-religious, controlling mother and a browbeaten, emotionally distant father, Sheila’s desire to become an international pop star (just like Lady Gaga) is the exact opposite of what her parents want for her. One night, Sheila lies to her parents so she can go to a party where something terrible happens to her with consequences that will change her life—and theirs—forever.
Suddenly, Sheila finds herself at the center of the nationwide debate on reproductive freedom in an alternate-reality America where Sarah Palin is president and Roe v. Wade has been repealed. At the same time, Sheila must navigate the changing relationships with her friends and family as an unwanted pregnancy threatens to tear all of them all apart. Luckily, Sheila's boyfriend, James, who has problems of his own, sticks by her side through her trials and tribulations with her mother, her pregnancy, and her growth as a politically minded young woman.
Finally, Sheila is forced to confront her troubled relationship with her mother as she learns that the secrets of the past have a way of haunting the future, that no decision is ever black and white, and that in order to truly love, she must first learn to forgive.
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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
Belle's explicitly preachy debut is an exploration of an alternate America in which Sarah Palin—after the death of John McCain—became president and promptly restricted reproductive rights across the country. Living in Palin's United States is 15-year-old Sheila Martin, a rape victim whose mother won't let her get an abortion. Instead, Sheila is sent away to a House of Mercy, a destination for underage, pregnant girls. Her roommate, an 11-year-old girl who was raped repeatedly by her older brother and forced by her Roman Catholic parents to keep the child, crystallizes Sheila's feelings about abortion. Soon, Sheila resolves to help her roommate escape and get an abortion, but her plan fails, setting up further confrontations with her parents and the system. Belle's novel—perhaps an attempt at a cross between Girl Interrupted and The Handmaid's Tale—is sadly little more than a diatribe against conservative America, thinly veiled as a teenager's journal. While readers will sympathize with Sheila's experience and find her voice reasonably convincing, the insertion of facts about abortion and lectures against its restriction diminish her story.
Kirkus Reviews
"Belle’s debut novel is a quirky alternate history from the perspective of a precocious, politically astute—and pregnant—teenager...Belle’s historical and political alterations are recent enough to engage even politically indifferent readers, and her divisive topics (free will, reproductive rights, parental control, how political policy affects even the youngest individuals) are addressed with a diversity of viewpoints and should spark intelligent debate.
A sharp,
Sarah N
"A realistic work of fiction that manages to take a frightening political 'what if' and spin it into a believable, entertaining and humorous page turner. Lula Belle takes us into a United States where Sarah Palin is president and Roe v. Wade has been overturned. Sheila, a witty and wise-beyond-her-years pregnant teen, takes the reader on her personal journey to find peace with her pregnancy while also helping another young girl in an even more heart-wrenching situation than her own."
VA Crawfish
Although the subject matter may be touchy for some, it is a necessary discussion for all mothers and daughters. Expecting is an an easy read about a difficult subject. The heroine is a loveable girl who finds herself in a tough situation, yet learns to make the best of it. She makes decisions that affect herself and her family and shows us a society that we can only hope we never have to see. The book is for adults as well as teens, I learned so much about the history of our country and it's f
VA Reader
This books is fabulous. It wrestles with the weighty issue of abortion (among other politically current topics) with depth and grace. The main character, a teen girl named Sheila, lives in a world where abortion is illegal in her state and she is forced to carry to term her pregnancy by rape. Instead of sliding into easy, divisive platitudes about either side of the argument, Ms. Belle makes vivid the choices we all must make, not only about politics, but about who we are, and what we can unders
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780615572543
  • Publisher: Creative License Press
  • Publication date: 12/28/2011
  • Pages: 274
  • Product dimensions: 5.00 (w) x 8.00 (h) x 0.62 (d)

Meet the Author

Lula Belle has been a band-member, a janitor, a bartender, a baker, and, always, a writer. At 28, she graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in English Literature, with distinction. Since then, she has tried to continue to live with distinction. Expecting is her first novel; she's working on her second. When she's not writing, she is probably vacuuming.

Visit her website at www.lulabelleauthor.com or find her on Facebook: Lula Belle Author
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Customer Reviews

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Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 2, 2012

    Page-turning fiction that examines, among other things, today's

    Page-turning fiction that examines, among other things, today's burgeoning debate on reproductive rights. A must read for young women!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted April 5, 2012

    "A realistic work of fiction that manages to take a frighte

    "A realistic work of fiction that manages to take a frightening political 'what if' and spin it into a believable, entertaining and humorous page turner. Lula Belle takes us into a United States where Sarah Palin is president and Roe v. Wade has been overturned. Sheila, a witty and wise-beyond-her-years pregnant teen, takes the reader on her personal journey to find peace with her pregnancy while also helping another young girl in an even more heart-wrenching situation than her own."

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews
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